What sound does pouring liquid make in English?.. I actually have no idea - “gurgle” didn’t sound quite right, so “dun-dun-dun” from the original it is.

Here we also have the first case of official titles appearing (case reviewer for Alibaba). I’ll be mostly taking the translations for those from the work of Charles O. Hucker A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China. Some liberties might be taken from time to time for the sake of the flow or atmosphere, but for the most part I’ll try to keep this as accurate as possible. The government structure of Imperial China was pretty complicated, and maybe I’ll dedicate a separate note to it in the future after we’ve met more characters, just so it’s easier to understand who is who in the world of politics. In Tang dynasty, case reviewers would tour the country and inspect judicial records, and impeach officials who mishandled the cases, but looks like in White Cat Legend this position is more about handling judicial paperwork for recommendations on trial procedures and sentences, like case reviewers would in the later eras.

What I translated as “insurance and social security” is actually some kind of specific Chinese term referring to packages of insurance with three (endowment, medical and unemployment) or five (also work-related injury and maternity) types of insurance. My country doesn’t really have an exact equivalent, and I think there isn’t one in English, but the idea is clear enough.